Foreign policy and Russia’s war in Ukraine took up a sizable chunk of Tuesday night’s 90-minute debate between Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and her Republican rival, former President Donald Trump.
But color the Kremlin unimpressed by the quality of the discussion and the two candidates’ clashing plans to end the war and deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“To be honest, I don’t know why this is big news,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Wednesday, according to a report by the official Russian Tass news agency, comparing the debate to a wrestling match on the Titanic.
“Is it big news for us to see yet another show put on by people who clearly take no responsibility whatsoever for their words?” Ms. Zakharova said in an interview carried on Sputnik Radio.
The spokeswoman, known for her often provocative language, added she thought it was “crazy to hear two people … actually discussing how and for what they are going to punish the world.”
Mr. Trump repeatedly attacked Ms. Harris over what he said was the Biden administration’s failure to prevent Russia’s 2022 invasion of its neighbor, claiming Mr. Putin would never have initiated the war if he had been president.
He also said he could halt the fighting immediately if elected, but declined to provide details of how he would do so when pressed by Ms. Harris.
Ms. Harris said the Biden administration deserved credit for rallying allies to support Kyiv in the war, saying Mr. Trump’s plan to end the war called for Ukraine to surrender a major chunk of its territory.
“I believe the reason Donald Trump says this war would be over within 24 hours is because he would just give it up,” she said at one point.
Mr. Trump said Mr. Putin had no respect for the “weak” Biden-Harris administration.
“Biden had no idea how to talk to [Mr. Putin],” Mr. Trump said at one point. “It’s only getting worse and it could lead to World War III. … We’re playing with World War III.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters the two candidates were using Russia and its president as political cudgels in the domestic debate.
“Putin’s name is being used as one of the tools in the American domestic political fight,” Mr. Peskov said. “We do not like that at all. We hope that they will leave the name of our president alone.”